More Stories

Informist, Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – A public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking grounding of Air India's Boeing fleet, pending its comprehensive security and safety audit. The petition comes days after an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick in London crashed seconds after takeoff, killing 241 passengers and crew.

 

Advocate Ajay Bansal, the petitioner who was also a recent passenger on an Air India flight, sought surprise audits across the entire fleet of Air India and other commercial airlines operating in India. Further, Bansal urged the court to direct the Central government, Air India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to immediately enforce stricter regulatory oversight.

 

The petition by Bansal said that Air India's service and safety failures jeopardised passenger lives and comfort, contravened Directorate General of Civil Aviation safety audits, and breached statutory duties under Section 5 and 7 of the Aircraft Act, 1934. The petitioner sought formulation of new operational guidelines that mandated stringent and periodic checks of all aircraft systems.

 

"This is not an isolated tragedy, but the consequence of chronic neglect, regulatory laxity, and an airline culture that has prioritised operational expedience over passenger safety," said the petitioner. Bansal asked the top court to direct the immediate grounding of unfit aircraft to avert further disasters and restore public confidence.

 

Last week, in a meeting held with the senior officials of Air India and Air India Express, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had said that the Tata group-run carrier's Boeing 787 fleet did not show any major safety concerns and the systems were compliant with existing safety standards. The meeting was held to review their operations to ensure compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.